California Bill Paves Way for Portable Solar Panels in Homes

The Plug and Play Solar Act is heading to California Governor Gavin Newsom's desk after passing through both the Assembly and Senate. Authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, the bill would allow consumers to buy small-scale, portable solar panels from retail stores like Home Depot or Costco and plug them into a wall socket in their homes.

The goal of the legislation is to help consumers reduce their electricity costs by making 'balcony solar' as simple as plugging in household appliances. The bill applies to solar generation devices as large as 1,200 watts, with kits ranging in cost from $300 to over $2,500 depending on size.

According to EnergySage, a company that offers comparison pricing for clean energy products, portable solar can save customers money in states like California with high electricity prices. In these states, customers using 600 kilowatt-hours can reduce $40 to $50 on their monthly bills, depending on the system they buy.

However, some critics have raised concerns about safety standards and potential hazards for line workers performing maintenance or responding to outages. The bill's fiscal analysis estimates that it would cost the California Public Utilities Commission between $200,000 and $500,000 each year to fund.